Evelyn Kim
TEDxColumbiaCollegeChicago
Born and raised in Southern California, Evelyn Kim is currently a Senior Design Manager at Uber. Previously, she was a User Experience (UX) Manager for Google Maps in Mountain View, CA. In 2007, she joined as the first visual designer for Google Maps and Earth, and went on to co-lead the complete redesign of all Google products in 2011 under Larry Page, and the Material Design for Google Maps in 2014. Evelyn has also had speaking engagements on design for Google at SXSW, IxDA, and Rhode Island School of Design.
She has specialized in UX and visual design, branding, print design, packaging design, and advertising for the last 12 years. Prior to joining Google, Kim was a designer at Geyrhalter Design and Disney Corporation.
Kim holds a Masters with distinction in Design Management from Pratt Institute in New York, and a BFA with honors in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design.
A truly versatile and experienced designer, Evelyn Kim is a force to be reckoned with. It’s not just about one design with her, but about the experience you have with the product. Being a UX designer, that means she’s always thinking about how it works with the user, and it’s clearly paid off. As one of the major players in the work done with Google Maps – also known as the reason millennials can get unlost from nearly anywhere – it makes me think about how it molds you, and defines you, as an artist to be part of massive corporate entities. Do you lose your individuality? Do you become the product you’re creating? The best answer was given by Kim herself in an interview with PRINT from 2015:
When you feel like your design has been chipped away beyond recognition, it’s important to probe deeply and ask why. Often times I find myself trying to troubleshoot a problem, and sometimes you’ll get a lot of no’s before ever finding a yes. I think if you care deeply about a design solution and want to preserve integrity, just ask why—at least 6 times. The clarity you get from understanding the real reason why the first answer was no is sometimes the solution to course correct, and eventually you can arrive at a better solution. It’s tough, but it requires patience, perseverance and empathizing with other viewpoints.
- Olivia Moore